


Four and Shadow

by stararm



Category: Twenty One Pilots, Tyler Joseph - Fandom, josh dun - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-24
Updated: 2017-04-26
Packaged: 2018-08-24 09:09:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8366536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stararm/pseuds/stararm
Summary: Josh and Tyler were regular kids. They would meet in a subway crash, were they would be saved by a mysterious man and develop a strong friendship while trying to overcome their trauma from that incident. Living in a world full of superheroes, both Josh and Tyler were very familiar with feeling small and overall useless every time a new hero emerged in New York and they remained their usual selves. This would change, however, when one night, both the boys would come in contact with a force so strong, it would give them the powers of their dreams, and nightmares.





	1. The Man

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place inside the Marvel Cinematic Universe (specifically Marvel Netflix)!

The city lights shined as police sirens were heard from a distance. Josh stood in the rooftop of _"La Casa"_ , the run down apartments on top of his favorite Mexican restaurant. Mrs. Peralta had the best Mexican food he had ever tried. But Josh wasn't thinking about her food tonight, he wasn't even thinking about the cold weather which was freezing and causing his hands to turn blue. He was thinking about the man in black. The man who had saved his life had caused him to not be able to sleep for a year because of all the questions he had. Who was that man? Where is he now? He had asked God these questions many times before, but it seemed like he didn't have an answer as well. All Josh could do was stay up at night, and see if he could spot the man and finally thank him. 

"I need to find you" Josh whispered to the wind. He looked at his phone as the clock changed to 1 am and decided that it would do him no good to stay out in the cold any longer so he zipped up his jacket all the way up and started heading home. 

_Black mask. Black shirt. Black pants and boots._ Josh's mind spoke.  _Not too tall, maybe 5'9, 5'10. Didn't have much facial hair. Or did he? No, no. He didn't._ Josh groaned as his mind tried to recreate the image of the man who saved his life. He knew it wasn't healthy to think about someone this much, he also knew how nuts it was but he couldn't help it. Josh was a curious guy and this hero, his hero, was the peak of his curiosity. If he only knew who **he** was, then Josh would finally find some peace of mind. However as the days passed by, it seemed like he would never find the man.  _I should just give up._ Josh thought constantly, but the hope of seeing the man again was too strong. It was stronger than he was. 

Josh kept walking through the quiet streets, his hands now burning from the cold. He used to be afraid of walking through the New York streets at night, but ever since these "superheroes" started emerging and protecting the city, he felt better protected. If he had been saved once, he could be saved again. Josh got closer to his apartment when his heart skipped a beat. He felt nervous. He would usually dismiss this as his anxiety acting up, but this time it was different. He looked around and saw nothing unusual.  _Breathe Josh._ Josh took a step forward when suddenly, he felt a strong pull on shoulder. Out of instinct, Josh quickly turned and punched whoever it was in the direction where their face would be. A grunt escaped the person, who Josh realized was a man, as his body hit the ground with a loud thud. Josh circled the man he had punched as his hands reached down to remove the hoodie from the individual's face. 

"I should have known better than to scare you".

Josh sighed as he lifted the man up and carefully inspected his face. "You're an idiot. Did I hurt you badly?"

The man laughed. "No, I knew you would do that so I moved away as fast as I could, you did still manage to slightly hit me though."

"Don't do that again Tyler." Josh scolded his best friend as he looked at the bruise he had given the tired young man. "What are you doing here anyway? It's late."

"I should be asking you the same thing." Tyler said as he put his hoodie back on and walked with Josh to his apartment. "I couldn't sleep and decided to come and see if you were awake."

"You know I don't like when you're by yourself at night Tyler. It's not safe."

"Yet you were doing the exact same thing." Josh stood still. "If anyone should be worried it should be me. I bet you were trying to find that guy weren't you." Tyler's tone changed to a more serious one.

Josh sighed and continued walking. "I need to find him Tyler. He saved my life. I would be dead if it wasn't for him."

"We, we would be dead." Tyler corrected him as he walked by his side. "I know you want to find him, I do too, but you shouldn't be staying up at night and risking your health to find him." Josh remained quiet. "Dude look at me." Josh stopped walking once more and turned to look at the bruised boy. "Stop putting yourself in danger. We'll find him someday. Alright?"

"Yeah yeah. Alright." Josh smiled at Tyler. 

Tyler smiled back at Josh and hugged him tightly. The boys hugged each other as the wind got colder until finally breaking apart. "C'mon, I deserve a coffee for that punch you gave me." Josh smiled and nodded. He was right, if Tyler hadn't dodged Josh's fist, Tyler might have been completely knocked out. 

The boys continued walking in silence until they reached Josh's apartment. There, they spent an hour drinking coffee till their eyes closed and their bodies were sprawled over the old yet oddly comfy couch.  


	2. Matt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never know when to update, so if anyone is actually reading this, i'm sorry for the long wait. But thanks for reading anyway. It'll get better, I promise.

The morning news played softly as Tyler yawned and attempted to fix is hair, making it worse in the process. It was 7 am and the boy had just woken up from his sleep on Josh's couch. Tyler would have woken up later if it wasn't for Josh's loud humming as he showered. Josh was a loud guy, but Tyler loved that. Tyler stood up and stretched to fully wake himself up when the tv caught his attention. On the screen read the headline "The Masked Angel" with a blurry photo of a man in an all black outfit and eyes covered. Tyler sat back down on the couch and quickly tried to turn the tv louder.

"C'mon. C'mon!" Tyler desperately pressed the volume button.

As the volume went up, Tyler felt as if everything else had frozen and the only audible thing in New York city was this TV screen. The young woman started speaking. "Once again, more sightings of what people are calling the Masked Angel have emerged after a shooting close to an abandoned church at approximately 1 AM last night. The man was seen attacking the shooters who apparently were there for a trade of . There was no one injured."

The picture of the masked man quickly vanished and before Tyler could process anything, the news lady was already talking about a new tragedy that had happened down town. Tyler sat in silence as the television kept playing. His heart beat was fast and his palms were sweaty. It was the first time in months, maybe even a full year, that Tyler had seen anything relating to the man who had saved him in the subway crash. Tyler hadn't see anything from the man in so long that he had been starting to convince himself that it was all a hallucination his mind created due to the trauma he got in the crash. He knew this wasn't true however because if it was, that means that both him and Josh, as well as every other person in the subway had hallucinated the same man. Although that was slightly possible, Tyler's mind knew better than that. 

The anxious boy took a deep breathe in and tried to slow his heartbeat.  _You are real,_ Tyler thought. Tyler cracked a smile and jumped up, excited to tell Josh about the news report and how their hero was still around saving people, when his face fell flat.  _I can't tell Josh,_ thought the skinny boy. If Josh had spent so many nights without sleep before, when they weren't even sure if this guy was still around, Josh was going to do even more stupid stuff now. Tyler grunted as he wiped both of his eyes, not knowing what to do with this new "information", if that's what you want to call it.  _it's more of a sighting,_ the boy thought. Tyler paced around the small living room while biting his nails, a bad habit of his.  _I need to tell him._ He thought.  _This is important to Josh and I can't keep things away from him. Besides, what is Josh gonna do about it anyway? It's not like we know the guy's name or anything._ Tyler stopped his anxious pacing and let out another deep breathe. "Okay".

"You good Ty?" Josh's voice echoed through the room as Tyler jumped back, too tied up in his thoughts to realize Josh had gotten out of the shower.

"Oh. Yeah man, all good." Tyler awkwardly smiled at Josh.

"You sure? It seems like something is bothering you. Wanna talk about it?" Josh softly spoke as he sat in the couch, his brown hair still dripping and his eyes waiting for Tyler to speak.

Tyler remained silent. He wasn't sure how to tell Josh that the man, their hero, which they had been looking for since who knows when had reappeared and was still in New York where they could find him. "No, i'm good. Promise." Is all that came out of Tyler's mouth instead. 

Josh smiled. "Well okay, if there's anything you need to tell me though, i'm here."

Tyler attempted to smile back. "Yeah."

\----

Josh watched at the snow melted in the window of the warm coffee shop. His shift started in ten minutes and he was taking this time to sit in the back of the shop and watch as tired, mostly young, customers came in and out. He loved seeing the customers come in every day. It was fun to imagine and think about what each person's life really was like. For example, there was this beautiful girl, Mara, she came in every tuesday and thursday. She had beautiful black, curly hair that reached her waist. Her dark skin shined brighter than anything Josh had ever seen and her smile was so wide, it made every one in the shop smile. Josh imagined her being a lawyer. Everytime she comes in, she's caring multiple books and a laptop. She's always writing things down and the couple times Josh had heard her talk on the phone, she ends up having an argument that always ends with her smiling and her quietly saying "Yes!" It makes sense to Josh. Then there's this guy, about 25, blonde and tall that rarely comes but is recognized by every employee in the shop. He's very shy, and blushes every time he orders. He orders by the name of Grant which reminds Josh of an old person. Josh believes he has a resemblance to Captain America, but is always too afraid to ask the man. Besides, if it is him, Josh would like to think he goes to the shop to escape the fame or attention he would get somewhere else, so he stays quiet for that reason as well. Who knows how many superheroes have showed up at the shop. Josh stood up from his lonely spot and got ready for his shift.  _It's gonna be a long day._

_\----_

It was two hours into Josh's shift when the door of the shop opened. It was 12 pm and at this time, there wasn't many customers that came in. Josh put on his best smile before even looking at the customer when they spoke first. 

"Oh excuse me, this is a coffee shop, correct?"

Josh laughed and turned to look at the customer. "Yes sir, it is." In front of Josh stood a young man with a fancy grey coat and red glasses, a white cane in his left hand. Josh's eyes fell. "Oh sorry sir, I didn't mean to be rude by laughing. I'm really sorry" Josh said as his cheeks turned to a bright red, much like the man's glasses. 

The man laughed. "Don't worry! If I got offended by things like that I probably wouldn't go out much. I'm Matt." The man extended his hand.

"Josh" Josh said as he shook Matt's hand. "So what can I get for you?"

"Just a plain and simple coffee, nothing fancy."

"Mm, got it Matt!" Josh responded with enthusiasm. 

Both the men made small talk as Josh made Matt's coffee. They talked about how Matt was a lawyer and how he had smelled the scent of coffee and trusted his nose to take him to this coffee shop. Josh spoke about how he worked in the coffee shop every tuesday, wednesday and thursday from 10am to 3pm and later went to work at a thrift store that smelled like old lady but had a cool vibe to it. Josh gave Matt his coffee and Matt promised to come more often because Josh was "a cool guy". Matt left and for the rest of his shift, Josh felt a feeling of happiness from meeting the blind stranger. There was something special about him, but Josh just couldn't put his finger on it. 


	3. An Encounter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for not writing in so long, I had lost inspiration but it seems to be back. I hope some people are still reading this, and if you are, I promise it will get better. Thank you for waiting, and sorry again!

_“This was a mistake!” Tyler shed a tear as everything was swirling around them._

_“I’m sorry!” Josh pulled his hair and yelled as his heart beat got faster._

_Every chair, lamp and anything else inside the building levitated as what looked a tornado formed in the middle of the room. Josh’s arms burned and he could feel his throat get weaker with every scream. The boys looked at each other with tears in their eyes as a burst of light exploded, causing both the boys to hit the wall behind them._

_“Tyler!”_

Josh abruptly woke up from the couch and inhaled deeply as he looked around his surroundings.He had fallen asleep on the couch again after arriving tired from work last night. They boy sat up and wiped sweat from his forehead as his heart kept beating like a impatient drum. It was just a dream. Josh thought. It wasn’t the first time Josh had gotten nightmares like this. Ever since the subway incident, every few nights or so, Josh had a nightmare that left him feeling anxious for the rest of the day. They usually involved him being somewhere dark and cold where he knows he has to do something, but he simply can’t move. On occasions, like this one, he’ll dream about Tyler also. He hates those the most. Josh scratched his head as he stood up from the couch and looked at the clock.

“Damn it!” Josh hissed as he realized he would be late for work.

The brown haired boy ran through his apartment as he tried to get ready. He grabbed his backpack and ran through the door like a mad man. It was too late for him to take the subway, so he would have to skateboard all the way to work. Skateboarding wasn’t as bad as it seemed, but boy did Josh not feel like riding all the way there today.

\----

“You’re late Joshua.” Veronica scolded Josh as he removed his backpack and quickly tried to put on his uniform.

“I know i’m sorry, I guess my alarm didn’t go off or something.” Josh mumbled as he put on his apron.

“Mhm. Go out there, there’s already a customer ready for you.” Veronica spoke.

Josh nodded as he stepped into the counter. “Good morning, what can I make for you today?” Josh said in a somewhat bitter tone.

“I see that someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” A man spoke.

Josh looked up and there stood Matt. “Hey Matt! What are you doing here?”

“Well, i’m supposed to be getting a coffee.” Matt joked. Josh rolled his eyes and laughed.

“Right. Same thing as yesterday?” The blind man nodded with a smile. Josh served him his “regular” cup of coffee and waved goodbye to the man, knowing he wouldn’t wave back. Seeing Matt had brightened up Josh’s mood a bit and before he knew it, Josh was already taking his 15 minute break. As Josh was sitting down to relax for the few minutes he had, the almost mute tv caught his attention. The tv showed a bad quality video of a man in all black handing a little boy over to a grown woman in tears.

“Hey Nat, mind turning it up a bit?” Josh spoke to his coworker.

As the volume went up, the camera turned to the same grown women who was still in tears. “He came out of nowhere and brought me my baby boy back! That man is a saint and I will never be able to repay him for what he’s done.” Josh smiled. It made him happy to see heroes protecting over the city he loved. His smile was cut short however when the news lady started talking.

“Although this masked individual has provided comfort and help to some, others have said that they don’t feel safe with a daredevil like him, who does not seem to follow the law.”

“Oh that’s bullcrap!” Josh exclaimed as he slightly kicked the chair next to him, obtaining a confused look from the few customers in the caffe.

“Josh! Watch your language! Those are big boy words!” Nat teased the angry boy with her ever changing voice. Josh grunted.

“It’s not fair! If that guy was a bad guy, he would have done something already!”

“Mhm.”

“I mean, one of those guys saved my life!”

“Well you know how close minded some people can be.” Nat sighed. Josh turned to look at her and sighed as well. “I know that better than anyone.”

She was right. Nat had her fair share of being judged by people. Nat had come out as transgender about 3 years ago, and while being transgender was hard, being an Asian transgender woman was even harder. Josh could never fully understand her struggle, but he did everything in his power to understand her and try to help in whatever he could. Despite only knowing each other for a year, they had become incredibly close.

“You know I love you right?” Josh said as he stood up and started getting ready to work again.

Nat laughed and flipped her hair “Oh honey, I know. What’s not to love.”

The two friends laughed and got back to work.

\----

“Hi Nat.” Tyler spoke softly as he entered the caffe.

“Hey Tyler, always so punctual when picking up Josh.”

“I’m a great friend aren’t I?” Tyler smiled.

Nat laughed. “Josh, your ride is here!”

Josh emerged from the changing room and smiled at the sight of Tyler. “Hey man! Thanks for the ride!”

“No problem, c’mon, let’s get going, i’m starving!”

“Yeah yeah! Bye Nat! Love ya! Don’t work too hard!” Josh waved at the smiling girl.

The boys left the caffe and quickly ran into Tyler’s car.

\----

“I miss mom.” Tyler said as he took a bit of his pizza.

“Yeah me too. I never realized how much of a mama’s boy I was till I moved out.” Josh stared at the window.

“We should take a trip to Ohio. It would be fun!” Tyler said through a mouthful of pizza.

Josh tapped the glass. “Maybe.”

Josh didn’t want to go home. Atleast, not yet. Josh wanted to do something with his life that he could go back home and tell his mom about. He wanted to have something to share, but all that had happened was the accident, and there was no way he was going to bring that up again unless he was ready to see his mom cry. He felt he needed to do something. It was a feeling he couldn’t shake off, and he wouldn’t go back home until it was gone.

_I guess it’s a side effect of almost dying._

“Hey, I have go get to work part 2, mind giving me a lift, part 2?”

Tyler smiled. “Yeah dude, c’mon.”

They boys left the pizza parlor and let the cold wind practically freeze their bodies. As the two boys walked towards the car, man with what seemed to be a skiing mask pushed his way between the two and continued walking, as if the two boys had been invisible.

“Wow, so many manners.” Tyler grunted as he watched the man walk away.

Josh felt his left arm numb up. It was the arm the man had run into. “Weird.” He said mostly to himself. The two boys got into the car and while Tyler started a conversation about basketball, Josh slowly felt his whole body numb up.

“Josh?” Tyler shoved the quiet boy. Josh didn’t say anything. All he did was watch the road ahead and feel as his body slowly felt less and less like his own.


	4. Denial

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't have excuses on why this takes so long anymore...

Josh sat in silence as the lights of the passing cars blurred through his eyes. 1...2...3… Josh kept repeating those three numbers in his head as Tyler kept talking about another dream he had. Josh’s eyes were wide as the sound faded every few seconds. Tyler had noticed Josh was being a little quiet, but it wasn’t until he turned to look at the silent boy that Tyler got concerned.

  
“Josh.” Tyler gently shoved his arm. Josh said nothing. “Josh!” Tyler shoved him again.

_  
Josh_. The boy could barely hear. _Josh_! Josh blinked a few times before turning to look at Tyler and raising his eyebrow in confusion. “What?”

  
Tyler looked at his friend with the same confused look. “Are you okay man?” Josh stared at Tyler with a blank expression. “Dude.”

  
Josh turned towards the window. “Yeah! I’m fine!”

  
“Are you su-”

  
“Oh look at that! We’re here! Thanks so much for the ride man! You’re always there for me!” Josh gave Tyler a rather awkward side hug before quickly getting out of the car.

  
Tyler stared out the car as Josh made his way into the shop and got out of Tyler’s sight. _What’s going on Josh_. Tyler thought as he started driving away to continue his studies.

  
Josh’s palms began to sweat as the boy got closer to the door. _C’mon Josh_. The boy took a deep breath and tried to calm down. He cleaned his sweaty palms on his worn out jeans and got ready for his shift.

  
\----

_  
“Tyler please!”_

_  
“Josh!”_

_  
"Tyler no!”_

  
“Josh!” Josh’s eyes shot up at the sound of his co-worker Sean yelling his name. Josh’s eyes looked around the room as his vision re adjusted themselves to the light. “Dude, you did not just fall asleep on the job.”

  
“Did anyone see?”

  
“Probably not, you weren’t asleep for that long. On the other hand, you did fall asleep on the counter so...”

  
Josh grunted. “I don’t feel good man.”

  
Sean took a sip from his coke can “Yeah, this place can be kinda boring.”

  
“No, like I genuinely don’t feel good.” Josh rubbed his eyes and backed up against the wall.

  
“Maybe it was something you ate.”

  
“No.” Josh sighed “That’s not it.”

  
“Well hopefully you feel better soon cause the guys and I wanna go to The Stars tomorrow night and we wanted to know if you would come.”

  
“Are you talking about that cheesy hipster club?”

  
“It is not a hipster club. But yes.”

  
“I don’t know man…”

  
“Oh come on!” Sean yelled as he slapped the back of Josh’s head. “We need to hang out! You can even invite Tyler! I know you don’t go anywhere without him.” Sean said slightly annoyed.

  
Josh rolled his eyes. “That’s not true.”

  
“Then come with us! It’ll be fun man! C’mon! I know you worry about the dangers out there, which is very understandable considering what you’ve been through, but you can’t live in a bubble forever!” Josh remained silent. “It’ll be fine! That’s what we got heroes for.”

  
Josh closed his eyes in an attempt to ignore Sean, but it was impossible as Sean immediately got on his knees and begged Josh to go. Josh grunted and kicked Sean away before finally giving and yelling “FINE!” loud enough to make a few customers turn around.

  
Sean stood up laughing as he patted Josh in the back. “That’s my boy!”

  
Josh rolled his eyes and got back to standing next to the practically empty cash register.

  
\----

  
_“Josh.”_

_  
“Josh.”_

_  
“Wake up!”_

  
Josh shot up from his bed as drops of sweat fell from his forehead and onto the bed sheets. His heart was beating faster than he had ever felt it and his hands were shaking at an alarming rate. _Please. Please._ Josh begged inside his head as he tried to catch his breathe. He desperately looked around for anything that could calm him down before running into the bathroom and throwing up everything he had eaten last night.

  
Josh stood up from the bathroom floor and looked at himself in the dirty mirror. His eyes seemed incredibly wide while his skin appeared whiter than usual. Becoming afraid with his reflection, Josh quickly threw some water on his face and decided to go back to bed. He laid down, and looked at the clock, it was 1 am.

Josh sighed and looked up at the ceiling. His eyes became fixated with the peeling white paint until his eyes slowly began to close. Josh let sleep take him away, but as soon as he let his eyelids close, he heard an alarm go off. _No. No way._ Josh slowly opened his eyes to find the colors of the morning sky plastered on the ceiling. Josh’s arm immediately reached for his phone where the clock now read 8 am instead of 1 am. _This is a dream._ _This…_ Josh turned the alarm off and threw his phone across the room, a small crack being heard. _This is all in my head..._

 


	5. Time

“Why haven’t you been answering your phone?” Tyler frantically yelled through the phone.

Josh sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, I had a rough night and-”

“Are you okay?”

Josh remained quiet. _No. Not really._ “Yeah. I’m just a little out of it.” No sound came from the other line. “Tyler i’m sorry. I’m at work already so i’ll talk to you later okay? I’ll buy you lunch before heading to the thrift store, yeah?”

A sigh came from the other line. Josh could practically see Tyler rolling his eyes at him. “Yeah fine. Whatever. I’ll see you later.” Tyler finally responded.

Josh hung up and admired the new crack on his phone. He really hadn’t meant to throw his phone across the room like that, but the confusion and anger got the best of him. Josh knew that last night when he was trying to go to bed it was 1 am yet in a matter of seconds it turned to 8 am. It was impossible for him to have slept those 7 hours. It didn’t make sense.

“Joshua.” Nat called out. “Dun!”

Josh shoved his phone in his pocket and ran a shaky hand through his hair. “Yeah?”

“You okay? You don’t look so hot.”

Josh sighed and headed towards the counter, his shift starting in 5 minute. “Had a rough night, that’s all.”

“I can see that. You look pale as hell.” Josh raised an eyebrow. “I mean more than usual.” Nat quickly added.

Josh took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Time is a weird concept, don’t you think?”

Nat rolled her eyes at Josh’s comment. “Yeah, yeah, time is a social construct, I get it. Get to work Josh.” She said with a smile.

Josh gave a small smile as Nat walked towards the back of the cafe. _Okay here we go. Just another day at work._ The tired man put on his apron, fixed the collar of his shirt and put on the best smile he had for the customers.

That day of work would turn out to be the slowest day of his life. As soon as the first customer walked in, a man with a large black hat and an over sized white coat, timed seemed to have slowed down by 50%. Customers would walk in and out, but in Josh’s head he was still trying to get the coffee of the man with the white coat. Josh’s mind was frozen in time, while his body just mimicked what he did every day at his job.

\----

“Josh?” Josh blinked and felt as tears slid down his cheeks. His eyes burned as if he hadn’t blinked for hours, or as if a drop of hot sauce had been dropped on his eyes. The man turned to his left where Nicholas, a part time worker, stood staring at him with his arms crossed. Josh wiped the tears from his eyes and cleared his throat. “Sorry, I must have zoned out or something, i’ll get back to work now.”

“Josh, your shift ended like 10 minutes ago, it’s already 3:10. If you wanna take over my shift then be my guest but…”

“It’s 3 already?” Josh looked at the window and saw the sun shining bright and the melting snow on the ground. “How?” Josh quickly took his phone out and checked the time where as predicted, the time read 3:10 pm.

“Yeah crazy, I know. Can I start my shift now?” Nicholas said as he pushed Josh out of the way.

Josh stood in confusion as Nicholas walked toward the register and immediately started taking orders as if Josh wasn’t even there. Josh felt as his body slowly started to numb, the same feeling he had felt last night. _What the hell is going on?_   The panicking man rips his apron off, grabs his backpack and jacket and practically runs out of the cafe.

“Wait Josh!” Veronica tries to follow the man. “Your paycheck!”

Josh doesn’t listen. He starts running away from the shop as quickly as he can and decided to call the only person who would listen.

“Tyler? Where are you? Are you at school?” The running man asked.

“Uh no, i’m like five minutes away from La Casa.” Tyler responded.

“Okay. Meet me there.” Josh blurted out and hung up the phone.

Josh shoved his phone in his pocket and ran even faster. He wasn’t completely sure why he was running, he just knew that something wasn’t right and that he needed to talk about this with someone. As he was running, Josh could feel the numbing feeling in his body increase to the point where his skin started to burn. Josh stopped and looked at himself in the reflection of a store window where he realized just how pale he really looked. His skin was about the same shade of the snow on the ground while red circles started to form around his eyes. Josh took one last glance at himself and continued running. His skin burned, his eyes were heavy and he was losing his breathe at an alarming rate, but his body continued running. Then out of nowhere, time stopped again. Josh felt as if everything turned to slow motion and closed his eyes. He let out a deep sigh when suddenly, time returned to him. Josh shot open his eyes and the last thing he saw was Tyler's car abruptly stop, Josh being inches away from being hit. 

"Josh what the hell, are you okay?" Tyler yelled as he got out of the car. A small crowd had formed due to Josh being in the middle of the road and Tyler almost hitting him. Josh couldn't speak, he just looked directly ahead where he spotted a familiar black hat and white coat walking away. 


End file.
